Why is Ray William Johnson not sued for copyright infringement?

ShrikantYadav

ShrikantYadav

Member
Hi :) First of all, if you don't know who Ray William Johnson is, then just google his name and you'll be able to figure out almost everything about his youtube channel. In short, I can say he is popular for a show called, "Equals 3", in which he reviews viral videos. In other words, he gives kind of witty commentary on those videos to entertain us. And for this, he uses others' videos in his videos. And as per my knowlege, in order to post your videos in Youtube, you're is not allowed to use other's content. And especially, when you're monetizing your videos, this rule is even more strict. So I just can't understand how he's able to get away with his when he's clearly using content that he does not own. Please give your comments.

Thanks in anticipation!



P.S. And if you're a fan of Ray, please do not get mad at me. Because my question is a completely innocent one. And I'm also a huge fan of his.
 
people like the free publicity. The guy reviews your video and sends you 100k+ views for free. Why would you go after him with copyright and just have that free publicity taken down and then not get anything out of it?
 
mcfluffers said:
people like the free publicity. The guy reviews your video and sends you 100k+ views for free. Why would you go after him with copyright and just have that free publicity taken down and then not get anything out of it?
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You mean, Youtube will take action only when the original owner of the content files a complaint? And not suo moto?
 
It's a fair question. I don't know 100%, but I believe it has to do with a few things. Firstly, there are loosely structured laws that allow for fair use of copyrighted content. One mention in particular is for the purpose of review. Technically, he is reviewing the content of the videos and providing original insight into them.

On top of that, Ray is managed (is that the word I'm looking for?) by an incredibly powerful network. They deal with the legal wrangling for him as an intermediary, so he doesn't have to worry about false strikes, or interruptions in his content. Also, considering the amount of subs he has and views he gets, he is able to contact people at YouTube if needed much easier than most people.
 
VanCityVideo said:
It's a fair question. I don't know 100%, but I believe it has to do with a few things. Firstly, there are loosely structured laws that allow for fair use of copyrighted content. One mention in particular is for the purpose of review. Technically, he is reviewing the content of the videos and providing original insight into them.

On top of that, Ray is managed (is that the word I'm looking for?) by an incredibly powerful network. They deal with the legal wrangling for him as an intermediary, so he doesn't have to worry about false strikes, or interruptions in his content. Also, considering the amount of subs he has and views he gets, he is able to contact people at YouTube if needed much easier than most people.
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According to Socialblade, Ray William Johnson isn't partnered with any network ever since he left Maker.
 
ShiftHappens said:
He's reviewing it, which is why it's allowed.
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It is debatable whether or not he would win a fair use lawsuit. Nothing that RWJ does with =3 would constitute a review, rather what he does is say hey watch this whole video because it's funny. Playing an entire piece of content and just breaking out funny lines during is what Mystery Science Theater did, and while there is a potential arguement for parody under fair use, it is still a stretch because he's not altering the content in any way. This is why Rifftrax exists, so people can do their movie commentary, distribute and monetize but it's designed to be overlaid on top of the movie that the end user already has which means the "Riffer" doesn't need to license anything since their track is only vocal audio created entirely by them.

It's far more likely that he gets in contact with the original uploader and asks permission to use the content, or relies on the content owners being so far below YouTube's notice with ContentID.
 
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